Ordoñez said, “If you get mad because somebody hits a home run against you ... you gotta take it like a man.”

Yes, you do. The Tigers had the moral high ground, and Carlos Guillen promptly pulled them off it. Guillen took Weaver deep, then stood admiring his home run, and stared at Weaver and pointed toward the fence. He did ...

The fact that Josh Fields will be added in to the outgoing Seattle portion of the deal matters little. Fields never really took in Seattle, where he staged a bizarre early holdout for six figures in additional cash when he could have spent part of the 2008 season with the M’s had he played his cards right.

Instead, Fields becomes the fourth and final No. 1 draft pick from the Bill Bavasi era to be traded out of town by GM Jack Zduriencik. Fields joins Jeff Clement, Brandon Morrow and Phillippe ...

While the Cubs’ clubhouse is relatively calm and quiet compared to years past, Carlos Pena surprised the media on Sunday by expressing a desire to improve the team chemistry.

“When you have the right kind of chemistry, it’s just magical,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to build toward — that chemistry that really just makes incredible things happen. … It’s not something you can just turn on a switch. I know that for a fact. But it does happen. It’s a ...

Sunday, July 31, 2011

A day after adding Derrek Lee, the Pirates acquired Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick just minutes before Sunday’s non-waiver Trade Deadline for a player to be named.

Ryan Ludwick, like Derrek Lee, is a person who plays professional baseball. They didn’t cost the Pirates anything, though, and the Pirates have some big holes in the lineup that professional below-average players can fill.

The Red Sox traded four Minor Leaguers in the deal, three of whom—catcher Tim Federowicz, pitcher Stephen Fife and righty Juan Rodriguez—went to the Dodgers for outfielder Trayvon Robinson. The Red Sox then dealt Robinson and outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang to the Mariners to complete the exchange for Bedard. Boston also acquired Minor League reliever Josh Fields, a right-hander, from the Mariners in the deal.

Feeling they have an even better one on the way, the Diamondbacks traded their starting first baseman to the A’s for a setup man on Sunday. The three-player deal sent Brad Ziegler to Arizona in return for Brandon Allen and left-hander Jordan Norberto.

Allen had… a .213/.325/.404 line in 178 at-bats with the Diamondbacks over the last three years. He’s not a surprising A’s target, in that his game is much more about power and walks than batting average. Unfortunately, he does strike ...

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that the Braves have acquired Michael Bourn from the Astros in exchange for four minor leaguers.

The Braves have been wanting an outfielder for a while now, preferably one that hits right-handed, but they’ve instead just grabbed the best one that’s available. Bourn leads all of baseball in stolen bases with 39, has had a great year at the plate (.303/.363/.403) and will give Atlanta a dynamite defensive center fielder. ...

But here is Peter Nash accusing (Barry) Halper of fraud when he himself was found to have defrauded a memorabilia dealer. Yet the Post ignored that fact, identifying Nash simply as a blogger who writes for haulsofshame.com and is working on a book titled “Hauls of Shame: The Cooperstown Conspiracy and the Madoff of Memorabilia.”

“My article wasn’t about me; it was about an article I wrote on my Web site,” Nash said in a telephone ...

“According to what I read, he’s never been happier (being traded) since he’s been a Cardinal,” Van Slyke said. “How can you be happy being traded from the St Louis Cardinals? It’s the most nonsensical thing I could ever imagine.

“I couldn’t have been more upset than when I got traded (to Pittsburgh). It took me a month to get over it.”

...“No wonder he’s never performed the way he should have.

“Then his father says the Cardinals have changed his game. Well, I would hope so,” Van Slyke ...

Hours after agreeing late last night on a deal to acquire Harden from the Oakland Athletics, the Red Sox backed out after reviewing the right-hander’s recent medical information, a baseball source confirmed early this morning. Harden, meanwhile, told reporters in Oakland that he expects to start Tuesday night for the Athletics.

Harden, 29, has been on the disabled list 10 times in his career, most recently during the first three months of this ...

But Monday is Aug. 1, and for now, Reyes is not just still the best player in town this season, he is the MVP of his league. He has the second highest batting average in baseball, after Adrian Gonzalez, who is the MVP for the American League so far. He has scored 78 runs, even though you know what the rest of the Mets batting order has looked like for so much of ...

The Indians are definitely doing more adding than subtracting at the moment, but they’ve decided Orlando Cabrera is expendable and they’re about to trade him to the Giants for outfielder Thomas Neal.

Cabrera had hit just .244/.277/.321 while serving as the Indians’ primary second baseman for most of the first four months… The Giants will likely shift Cabrera back to his natural position of shortstop. He probably won’t be an everyday guy, but he should be able to ...

Pirates pick up a righty-hitting, aging former star named “Derrek”. How could this possibly fail?

A source told the Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly that it’s “very likely” Derrek Lee ends up with the Pirates, though only after Pittsburgh takes a close look at his medicals. Connolly reports that the Orioles will likely pick up part of Lee’s salary and get an A-ball prospect in return.

... [Baltimore will] likely give [Chris] Davis a long look at third base, with Mark Reynolds making the ...

And from the Melewskian comments…(Chris) “Davis has an Adrian Gonzalez skill set.”

“I think the value is great,” Duquette said. “I was surprised. I have called a couple of scouts in the industry checking on what they are hearing (about deadline deals) and it was three different scouts I spoke with and they too were amazed at the haul that the Orioles brought back.

“You are talking about an eighth-inning guy in Koji and I think the Rangers are counting on his option vesting for next year. But, ...

Furcal has been plagued by injuries for most of the 2011 season and has hit just .197/.272/.248 in 37 games, but the Cardinals are optimistic that he’ll be able to get back to his career norms with a change of scenery.

With Hiroki Kuroda and Ubaldo Jimenez coming off the trade block Saturday, the Red Sox had to resort to a lesser addition. They got it in the injury-prone yet very talented Rich Harden, from the A’s. The Red Sox are sending Lars Anderson and a player to be named later to Oakland (Kevin Goldstein via Twitter).

Harden, 29, has long been one of the more talented pitchers in the majors, but his arm has deteriorated over the years due to many injuries. He went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 89 ...

According to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, the Rockies have agreed to trade right-handed starter Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians for pitching prospects Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, and 26-year-old minor league first baseman Matt McBride.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

We’re set for a split doubleheader. Joe Girardi is not high on the concept, or on straight doubleheaders for that matter.

“I don’t like either one,” Girardi said. “I would vote for two seven-inning games, or you increase the roster for doubleheaders, just because it’s so hard on your team physically. It’s one thing if you have a day off after a doubleheader, but if you don’t, it’s really hard on you physically. I think it takes away from the quality of the game sometimes in ...

Right-hander Koji Uehara of the Orioles have reportedly been traded to the Rangers in exchange for corner infielder Chris Davis and pitcher Tommy Hunter (Baltimore Sun via Twitter)...

Uehara, 36, is pretty underrated—likely due to playing for the non-contending Orioles. He has a 1.72 ERA, 0.70 WHIP and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings this season. He’ll fit quite nicely in Texas as an eighth-inning bridge to Neftali Feliz.

The most important thing to know about baseball trades made in July is that most of them do not amount to much. Few of the stars traded to contenders will be the difference between winning and losing, and few of the young prospects traded for stars will become stars. Still, we have had a flurry of activity leading to Sunday’s deadline for nonwaiver trades (don’t ask), with stars like Carlos Beltran, and numerous lesser lights changing teams and kindling hope among their new teams’ fans. ...Read More...

The Royals traded Aviles to Boston Red Sox on Saturday for utilityman Yamaico Navarro and minor-league pitcher Kendal Volz. The move came one day after Aviles publicly expressed his displeasure at being a utility player…

Aviles, 30, was the Royals’ player of the year as a rookie in 2008 and batted .304 last season after returning from major elbow surgery… He departs with a .222 average, five homers and 31 RBIs in ...

The Tigers, in need of fortifying their starting rotation, acquired starter Doug Fister and reliever David Pauley from the Seattle Mariners Saturday, a high-ranking Tigers’ official confirmed. The official was not authorized to speak publicly.

The Mariners will receive left-handed pitcher Charlie Furbush, minor league third baseman Francisco Martinez, minor-league outfielder Casper Wells and a player to be named, according to the official.

If Alvin Cash were still around…I’m sure we’d have a The Philly Freak-ish follow-up.

In an out-of-left-field comment following Thursday night’s 4-1 Giants victory, Manuel put down winning pitcher Tim Lincecum (and Matt Cain), correcting a reporter who suggested the Phillies struggled against these “great” pitchers, who together held them to one unearned run in 13 innings in the series.

“They’re good pitchers. You say they’re great pitchers? To me, I don’t know how great they are,” Manuel ...

When Burnett signed his five-year, $82.5 million contract, the Yankees didn’t expect his record to be below .500 (31-33) in the first three years.

The trade deadline clock is ticking loudly now, and Ubaldo Jimenez continues to be the name on the lips of everyone who wants Cashman to make a move. The Rockies’ asking price has been too high, even though the 27-year-old righty is supposed to have a manageable contract and ...